


Storybook Story

by aneighthdomain



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Princess Bride Fusion, Canon - Book & Movie Combination, Canon Dialogue, F/M, Inspired by Princess Bride
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:01:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,793
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24067027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aneighthdomain/pseuds/aneighthdomain
Summary: Rey was raised on a small farm in the country of Chandrila.  Her favorite past times were riding her horse and tormenting the farm boy who lived there.  His name was Ben, but she never called him that....OrThe Princess Bride AU that no one asked for.  At least not this way.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Storybook Story

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome~! I have no idea what I'm doing! There are thoughts and ideas in my head and they kinda loosely fit in with the events of The Princess Bride, but then, like, they don't. And then we're gonna swing around later and pick up the canon plot again. So yey~! Thank you for coming on this journey with me! Tags will change as the story goes on and possibly the rating, so please keep that in mind.
> 
> I also want to thank my very kind beta S.P. <3

_ Come my love, I’ll tell you a tale of a boy and girl and their love story. _

When he began working on her family farm, she’d been the fifth most beautiful woman in Chandrila and not particularly bright. When he’d left to make his fortune, she’d been the third most beautiful and had managed to learn enough to be polite. Now he looked up at her from the crowd, his masked face hidden in shadow, and he thought she must be  _ the _ most beautiful in Chandrila. But from the pinched expression of her face, she hadn’t gotten much brighter.

And yet, his heart still swelled with love for her. As uniquely dim as she appeared to be, and the announcement of her engagement to Prince Snoke, it was decidedly inconvenient to still be in love with the now Princess Rey. She hadn’t waited, he reminded his fool heart. It blithely ignored him.

The Dread Pirate Kylo Ren drew in a deep breath and turned, fading fully back into shadow. Regardless of his feelings, he had a job to do. He could remain impartial. He could. And he would. It wouldn’t be long before he would need to lie in wait for her. Her daily ride was in mere hours. Shortly he would have her in his custody, then he would pass her off for her ransom. Then the debt would be paid and he would move on with his life. Without her.

It wasn’t long before he neared the rendezvous between himself and his three other partners. The Sicilian, the “Giant” and the Swordsman. He hadn’t bothered to learn their names. It would have taken too much effort to do so. The Sicilian decided that he was the leader of the group, and Kylo had been content enough to let him think that while he ran plans, upon plans, upon back up plans in his head just in case. And just in case appeared before him in the form of a trip wire right in the path he should have taken to return to the rest of the group. Except that Kylo never took the same path to a place twice.

“A double cross?” he mused as he knelt down and studied the wire. His eyes followed the line to the cover of a bush at the base of a tree. The line was nearly the same color of the tree bark, so he had to get closer to see it, but then raised his eyes up the tree to a branch that braced a hand crossbow, the dark line tied to the trigger.

Kylo reached his hand out and both bolt and crossbow flew through the air to him and he snatched both with his hands. Interesting. What a waste of a perfectly good range weapon. Kylo considered if it was worth keeping on his person, or not. A hand crossbow would be helpful, but there wasn’t a convenient way to carry it. With a sigh, he shook his head and dropped both on the ground. Let them wonder how to go there if they came looking for it or his corps.

The sound of hooves had him dropping down to the ground under cover of the bushes and turning in the direction of the approaching horse. Of course it was Rey. Why wouldn’t it be Rey right at this moment when he’s just learned that the team he was part of has betrayed him and he has no way of protecting her from them without getting himself or both of them killed.

He couldn’t help the small smile that curled across his lips though. She’d always had masterful horsemanship. It was one of the few good traits about her that he’d liked when he’d first met her. She was beautiful to be certain. She was radiant on a horse. Even the fact that she had to pull up short as the trio stepped into the road almost under the horse’s hooves, she was in complete control of the horse, soothing it before it had a chance to spook. Kylo had to tear his eyes from her though. He needed to see how much of the plan the trio followed.

“We are but poor, lost, circus performers,” Hux said and Kylo rolled his eyes. He had nixed that idea originally because it sounded stupid and honestly, who would fall for it? “Is there a village nearby?”

“There is nothing nearby,” the princess said. “Not for miles.”

Kylo barely contained his groan. Dumb as a post;  _ no _ situational awareness.

“Then there will be no one to hear you scream...”

Kylo grit his teeth as Finn reached for the Princess, clearly intent on making sure she did not scream, in spite of Hux’s words. Kylo reached out with mind and hand and put her to sleep before she could utter a sound. She slumped to the side and into the man’s arms.

As they loaded the princess on to the cog ship, Kylo was now faced with a dilemma. It was clear that he would no longer be welcome into the equation, Hux and his men apparently following their own deal with a benefactor. He was going to need to get her away from them. So. Did he attempt to sneak on their ship and steal her back-a high probability of death-or did he sneak off to procure his own cog ship-a high probability of losing them altogether.

If he knew where they were going, that would be something. He idly thought of pulling the destination directly from Hux’s mind, but the man had previously exhibited a resistance to mind probes. He doubted Hux would have revealed the place to the other two men.

“What is that you’re ripping?” Dameron asked.

Kylo looked over at the ginger and narrowed his eyes at the fabric in his hands. Those colors were...Exegol?

“It’s the fabric from the uniform of an army officer of Exegol,” Hux said, confirming Kylo’s guess.

“Who’s Exegol?” Finn asked.

_ More importantly  _ where _ in Exegol? _ Exegol hadn’t been part of the plan. Hux was definitely playing by his own rules.

“The country across the sea,” Hux told the man. “The sworn enemy of Chandrila.” Slapping the horses rear, the ginger continued. “Once the horse reaches the castle, the fabric will make the prince suspect the Exegolans have abducted his love. When he finds her body dead in the Exegol flats, his suspicions will be totally confirmed.”

Kylo’s focus moved from the retreating form of Hux to the princess in Finn’s arms. He reached for her with his mind and found that she was still fully asleep. She couldn’t hear them talking about killing her. Small miracles.

Finn stopped in his tracks, looking back at Hux, his dark eyes full of horror. “You never said anything about killing anyone! First the man in black and now the Princess?!”

Kylo couldn’t see his face from his place in the bushes, but he imagined he could see the elitist, haughty eyebrow raise the man had when he had to explain to his lessors why they should do something. “I’ve hired you to help me start a war. It’s a  _ prestigious _ line of work. With a long and  _ glorious _ tradition!”

The man’s clipped tones and the ideology dripping from his words made Kylo want to gag. He didn’t understand fanatics, and their reverent zeal made him feel sick when he heard it. Which is why he’d left Admiral Pryde’s service and found himself indebted to Calrissian.

"I just don't think it's right, killing an innocent young girl!" 

“Am I going mad, or did the word ‘think’ escape your lips?!”

Kylo Ren rolled his eyes as Dameron agreed with Finn. This was getting him nowhere. It was clear they were headed toward Exegol, their cog ship was even turned in that direction. Kylo moved off.

If they were going to Exegol by boat, there were only a few directions they could go in and fewer places that wouldn’t require registering with a dock master. He had an idea now where they might go. He could catch up to them.

He cast one last look back at the ship, hoping he wasn’t seeing it for the last time; seeing her for the last time.

  
  
  


*******

  
  


Rey came to herself slowly. She didn’t immediately move. She couldn’t remember where she was, but the way she seemed to be rocking suggested water, and she should  _ not _ be on water. Why was she waking on a...she slightly cracked an eye, the one closest to the surface she lay on...a ship?

Her last memory was riding her horse. Then...nothing. So she kept her breathing steady and listened to the conversation around her.

“You’re sure no one is following us?”

“As I told you, it would be absolutely, totally and in all other ways inconceivable. No in one Exegol knows what we’ve done and no one in Chandrila could have gotten here so fast.”

So that was it?

“Out of curiosity, why do you ask?”

“No reason. It’s only, I just happened to look behind us and something’s there.”

“What?” 

There was a scramble of feet that all moved away from her. Rey opened her eyes a little farther. All three of the men she’d seen before she’d lost consciousness were looking over the stern. She took a quick look around her and laid her head back down. There wasn't much to see. 

There had been some rope, barrels, stores of other supplies and nets. What could she possibly do with any of that? The only weapon she could see was the swordsman's and it was quite clear that he knew how to use it, by the casual, practiced way he rested his hand on the pommel.  _ What would Ben do?  _

“Perhaps a local fisherman out for a pleasure cruise at night through shark-infested waters.”

Rey perked, cracking an eye open again. Local fisherman? Did fishermen go out far from shore? Were they near the coast then? Coast of what? Were they still in Chandrilia waters? If she could get off this ship...

_ What would Ben do?  _

She was a strong swimmer. She'd learned to swim in the pond growing up on the farm. Then in the river when she was old enough to ride on her own. This was an ocean, but the principal had to be the same, right?

_ Ben would find a way to escape.  _

Rey tilted her head up, made certain the men’s attention was still on the other ship and then in a quick, fluid motion, turned along her back against the side of the ship and pulled herself over the edge to fall into the water. She was particularly proud of the strength she’d built up in her arms and shoulders and felt a sense of satisfaction of being strong enough to do that right up until she hit the cold of the water. It was  _ significantly _ colder than the pond or the river and perhaps not the most intelligent thing she had done.

_ Ben would not have done this, then.  _

She rolled her eyes at herself and at the echo of words to  _ think _ before acting and set out to where she thought the shore might be. She kicked a little to propel herself up to see in that direction and could  _ just _ make out a darker outline to the black all around her. Yes, this was the direction to go. She set out but just as quickly as she started swimming--much harder than she had anticipated as well, but doable--she was stopped almost as quickly by a passing fin. Rey’s heart leapt into her throat.

“You are aware that we are in  _ shark-infested _ waters, are you not, Princess?”

Rey turned to glare over her shoulder, treading water. The man was insufferable with his condescending tone, even screamed across the water at her. How did his companions tolerate him?

She was distracted from her train of thought as another fin passed by her, this time the swift swirl of current brushing by her as well. The ginger man’s words sank in.  _ Shark _ -infested...?

A hard, rubbery body pushed into her, and she could feel her riding habit drag on the skin. Rey’s heart slammed repeatedly into her ribcage and her breath came faster in hysterical little pants that would not serve her in swimming to escape as she felt the panic rising in her.  _ Ben would  _ definitely  _ not have done this! _

“If you swim back now, I promise no harm will come to you,” the awful man called out. “I doubt you’ll get such an offer from the sharks.”

Rey didn’t believe him for a moment. But what else could she do?  _ What would Ben do?  _ Get out of harm’s way, to begin with. That’s what he would do. Forcing herself to take a few deep breaths, putting sharks and shore, and ugly-mouthed men out of her mind, she kicked off for the ship again. It was hard to put the sharks out of her mind though, when she could feel the currents of them passing and circling her every time she saw a fin in front of her or out of the corner of her eyes.

She touched the side of the ship in the same moment that something tugged hard on her habit’s skirt and she was dragged back, helped by the ship’s wake. One of the men, the darker one, reached out and fisted his large hand in the collar of her dress, dragging her back just as roughly, even pulling a few strands of her hair out, but she didn’t care as she turned and was able to not only see the fin but the cold black eye of the shark as it was retreating back into the water and she couldn’t hold back the scream that clawed its way out of a ragged throat. An oar hit the shark between its eyes and was forced to let go of her as the man holding onto her dress dragged her back and into the wake of the ship then up over the railing.

“Just put her down!” the ginger man snarled, shoving the other two men away and kneeling down with rope in his hands. “I supposed you think you’re brave,” he said in clipped, mocking tones as he tied the length of rope around her wrists.

Rey looked him dead in the eyes, her expression bland save for a single raised eyebrow and her own mocking tone. “Only compared to some.”  _ Ben  _ would _ have said that _ .

The ginger’s eye twitched and he tightened the rope until her hands were numb.

“I think he’s getting closer,” the third man said, a Spaniard by the sound of his accent.

“He’s no concern of ours,” one last tight knot. “Sail on!”

Everyone on the ship winced at the shrillness of the man’s voice. But the rest of the night was so uneventful she could have passed the journey up and moved on to the next morning, but time didn’t work like that. So it was a long trip, with the two henchmen taking turns dozing while the leader slept on like a child, his mouth hanging open and drool coming from his mouth.

Sleep eluded her. This was her first time at sea. Though she wasn’t sick, it wasn’t pleasant either. As the moon slowly moved across the sky and the ship swayed and rocked, she looked out over the water. Was he out there? Was he nothing more than a pile of bones at the bottom of the sea, his flesh picked clean...?

Rey stopped that thought right there. She went down that road far too often as it was. She didn’t need to do it when she was in danger. She still needed to figure out how she was going to escape.  _ What would Ben do? _

A bowl was thrust down into her face and Rey blinked. She looked up at the darker of the two men who was...feeding her? She was fairly certain by this point that they were going to kill her. Given the events of today, she assumed that kidnapping her now was a political move. So why were they going to feed her? Did they need to travel far and then she would need to have the strength to get there.

She looked up into the man’s eyes and saw the sadness and the guilt in them. Perhaps one of these men wanted her dead, she decided as she took the bowl with her bound hands and put it to her lips. But it wasn’t this man. She might be able to use this to her advantage.  _ Is this what Ben would do? _

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading~! I really hope you enjoyed it! And remember, always feed and water your fic authors! Kudos are wonderful, comments are delightful, and MORE is always inspiring~!


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